In this Aug. 2, 2010, file photo, a kite boarder sails along the Columbia River in Hood River, Ore. The Hood River-White Salmon Bridge is in the background.
Rick Bowmer / AP
More federal dollars are flocking to Southwest Washington to replace the region’s aging bridges.
The Hood River-White Salmon Bridge, a vital connector for towns in the Columbia River Gorge, is set to receive $200 million from federal transportation officials, according to a Monday announcement from federal officials. The money will help pay to replace the bridge, which local officials who regularly cross the two-lane span say is long overdue.
Kevin Waters, a Washington state representative from Stevenson, said his constituents are very reliant on the gorge’s few bridges and have to detour dozens of miles if one gets shut down.
“The big takeaway is that (the federal government) recognizes our bridges,” Waters said. “Sometimes I feel like our bridges are not taken seriously.”
The bridge, built in 1924, largely supports a core of growing towns: Hood River in Oregon, and White Salmon and Bingen in Washington, as well as outlying communities. It’s also well-traveled by truckers moving goods like fruit, wheat and timber; and the many out-of-towners venturing to the gorge for hiking and camping.
The bridge saw 4.3 million vehicle crossings last year, according to federal officials.
Yet local officials, such as White Salmon Mayor Marla Keethler, have said for years that the bridge is structurally unsound. They said the bridge may have to close to truck traffic in the coming years.
“This bridge is a lifeline for our local communities,” Keethler said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to see this federal investment in our region.”
The total price to replace the bridge is $520 million. The federal grant announced Monday would cover 40% of that estimate.
Washington’s two U.S. senators, both Democrats, heralded the investment Monday and touted their roles in securing the money. Sen. Maria Cantwell in 2015 created the grant program providing the largesse. Sen. Patty Murray, as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, recently helped earmark billions for the program.
This is the second windfall from Washington D.C. for local bridges recently. In December, efforts to replace the Interstate 5 Bridge netted $600 million in federal grants. That project has hopes to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars more to pay for the project, which could cost more than $7 billion total.
Waters said the flowing federal cash gave him hope to see more of the region’s aging infrastructure fixed. The bridge closest to him, the Bridge of the Gods, is 99 years old – roughly as old as the I-5 bridge and the Hood River-White Salmon bridge -- and in similar need of repairs.
The Bridge of the Gods doesn’t qualify for federal funds, Waters said, due to a technicality in how toll revenues on the bridge are collected and spent. He said he hopes to get that changed. In the meantime, he is working to get $6 million apiece for repairs from Oregon and Washington.
But when the time comes that he or other officials in the gorge need federal cash, he said the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge has showed its possible.
“It’s the blueprint we need,” Waters said. “To be able to see that a partnership like that can work, and get the feds involved, it’s pretty cool.”